


Perhaps He Should Have Chosen Glory

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-27
Updated: 2011-09-27
Packaged: 2017-10-24 02:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/257944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He should have seen the warning signs. They'd been there all along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perhaps He Should Have Chosen Glory

**Author's Note:**

> On the eve of my writing partner's move to London, we decided to revisit the Harry Potter fandom using this 15 minute fic community (http://15-minute-fic.livejournal.com).

He could have had the girl or glory. He had always wanted both. For years, he had wanted glory to impress the girl. Or was it that his desire for glory came first, and his desire for the girl later?  
   
Either way, he could only have one. If he chose glory, she could not follow. Or rather, would not follow, he thought. She was making him chose, and so many times he came close to picking glory.   
   
In the end, however, he knew deep down that he wanted the girl. Following a plan he thought would not fail, he went to her on a moonlit night, intending to confess his love, explain what he had given up for her, and tell her how no one else would ever sacrifice that much.  
   
He should have seen the warning signs that had been there all along. But he was caught up in fantasy and false hoping. She met him that night, looking stunning, glowing really. It was all he could do not to kiss her right there. But no – he’d planned a speech.  
   
How could he have forgotten how awkward he was? How awkward he had always been? Why did he have to be so blind in his passion as to let delusion take hold? She had given him all the signs, as she reminded him that night.  
   
“I did nothing to lead you on.” Her voice was a whisper, but he heard contempt in it. “Don’t be so surprised. If you really cared or paid attention to me at all, you would have known this was coming.”  
   
She walked away without a goodbye. They would never actually get a goodbye. But at least she hadn’t said, “I don’t love you.” It was a small consolation to be sure.  
   
Still, after he had poured out his heart, her words, though spoken softly, felt like a physical blow: “James asked to marry me.”  
   
“And what did you say?” Until his dying day, he wished he had chosen better last words.  
   
“Yes, of course.” There was disbelief in her voice. “I said, ‘yes.’”  
   
He had frozen then and time stretched out.  
   
“Severus?”  
   
He didn’t respond. She tried to talk to him, and though he heard her, he would not answer back. What was there left to say?  He was not a beggar.  
   
So many years passed and he never forgot the look she gave him right before she walked away, leaving him under a too bright moon, alone.


End file.
